DVD Regional Coding Enhancement F.A.Q. (Part Two)
 

Q: What's The Latest with RCE? (October 2002)
A: Unfortunately RCE is back with a vengeance. Columbia Tri-Star has been putting it on many of their major DVD releases. We had feared that Spiderman would be RCE and this month we confirmed that it IS RCE! We expect Men in Black II and xXx to have RCE, and we'll test the discs as soon as we get them and let you know. At this time the only studio adding titles to the RCE list seems to be Columbia Tri-Star.

Q: Can You Recommend A Region-Free Player?
A: When it comes to Region-Free Player it's not just What You Buy but Where You Buy which is critical. It's important to apply the same standards which you'd use to buy any other thing online. So don't just go with any merchant because they have a region free player. We recommend the Malata DVP-520 or Jaton PSD-7611K at HKFlix.com.

Q: I have 'XYZ' Brand DVD Player which is not on your list of Players that can play RCE discs, will RCE DVDs work on my player?
A: Unfortunately we don't have the ability to test every player on the market, and so we rely on DVD Talkers to report to us when they find a player that works. So if you're player ISN'T on the list, the best advice we can provide is for you to test it out

  • Put in the disc.
  • You'll see the RCE warning sign, a world map
  • Press MEMORY on the remote control.
  • Press 01 in the Title Box.
  • Press 00 in the Chapter Box.
  • Press ENTER or PLAY Note: MENU may not work.
  • Experimenting with title 2 and chapter 1 to get you the special features.

    Q: Do MGM Titles have RCE?
    A: We got the scoop from MGM about RCE. At this time MGM is not adding RCE to their titles and do not plan on adding RCE to future titles. However, one of their Japanese Manufacturer decided on their own accord to develop an RCE 'like' encoding process and add it to some MGM DVDs. When MGM found out about this they told the manufacturer to stop it immediately, which they did. So the first pressing of some MGM titles pressed from their Japanese manufacturer does have an RCE like encoding. But re-pressings of those titles and all future titles should NOT have RCE.

    Q: What MGM titles have been reported to have the RCE like encoding on their first runs?
    A: Currently the following titles from MGM have RCE like encoding on their first run:

    • Another Woman
    • Antitrust
    • Magnificent Seven
    • Magnificent Seven Ride Again
    • The Princess Bride
    • Salvador

    Q: How can you tell which run an MGM title is from?
    A: Unfortunately, at this point, we don't know of any way to tell which run the above titles come from.

    Q: I've seen some titles listed on other RCE lists but they play fine for me?
    A: If it's an MGM title on the list. The DVD may be from a batch that doesn't have the RCE like encoding. For Warner Bros titles: Initially Warner Bros had announced that they were going to be RCEing their titles but aside from South Park none of their titles are infact RCE. Here's an official update from Warner Bros:

    Please note the following titles DO NOT HAVE RCE:

    Best In Show
    The Perfect Storm
    The Pledge
    Proof of Life
    Superman, The Movie

    Currently Warner Home Video does not implement the RCE. The only title I can confirm is South Park, which only distribute.

    Thank you,
    VP - Publicity, WHV

    Q: Does RCE effect Multi-Region Players?
    A: Unfortunately some Multi-Region Players can be effected by RCE discs, but we've had many reports of Multi-Region Players working fine with RCE Discs.

    Q: Are there workarounds for RCE Region-Free or Code-Free DVD players?
    A: RCE does affect these players but there are work arounds:

    1. If your player has manual Regional Switch capability, then use the manual switch and set it to Region 1.

    2. If this doesn't work, play a non-RCE Region 1 title for a few seconds, and then put in the RCE title.

    Known Work Arounds:
    Other Region Free Players

    If your player isn't listed, try this workaround as we've been told that it will work on some players
    1. Put in the disc.
    2. You'll see the RCE warning sign, a world map
    3. Press MEMORY on the remote control.
    4. Press 01 in the Title Box.
    5. Press 00 in the Chapter Box.
    6. Press ENTER or PLAY Note: MENU may not work.
    7. Experimenting with title 2 and chapter 1 to get you the special features.
    Alba 103 DVD
    1. Play the disc.
    2. Press STOP before you see the RCE warning sign, the world map
    3. PLAY MODE button [on remote] until PROGRAM P00:00 is displayed.
    4. Enter 1 second
    5. Press PLAY
    Hitachi 505 If it's upgraded with the Auto-Manual switch, then it's RCE compatible. If it's an auto player you can:
    1. Use the remote, press SETUP, LAST, SKIP ? SKIP ?
    2. You will get a LOOPHOLES menu.
    3. Select REGION ID, REGION 1
    4. To play R2 title, repeat the above, but select BYPASS or REGION 2.
    Hitachi DVP-250 DVD Player
    1. Turn on device
    2. Open tray and put in DVD (don't close it!)
    3. Press "Direct Search"
    4. Press the blue right-button two times
    5. Press "Enter"
    Philips DVD820 and DVD840 players
    1. Play the disc.
    2. Press STOP repeatedly before you see the RCE warning sign, the world map
    3. Press T-C twice until Time -:--:-- is displayed.
    4. Press PLAY
    Philips DVD860 players
    1. Play the disc.
    2. Press STOP repeatedly before you see the RCE warning sign, the world map
    3. Press MEMORY.
    4. Highlight T and press the number buttons for the title
    5. Highlight C and press the number buttons for the chapter.
    6. Press PLAY
    Toshiba 100, 200, 1200, 2109
    1. Put in the disc.
    2. You'll see the RCE warning sign, a world map
    3. Press MEMORY on the remote control.
    4. Press 01 in the Title Box.
    5. Press 00 in the Chapter Box.
    6. Press ENTER Note: The DVD will play, but MENU will not work.
    7. Experimenting with title 2 and chapter 1 will get you the special features.
    Toshiba 3107, 3109, 9000
    1. Play the disc.
    2. Press STOP before you see the RCE warning sign, the world map
    3. Press the T button twice to bring up time input.
    4. Enter 1 second
    5. Press PLAY
    Toshiba SD1900
    1. Put The Disc in The Player
    2. Press STOP then PLAY before you see the RCE warning sign, the world map
    3. Hit Menu to Get To The Top Menu
    Toshiba 9000E
    1. Put disc in tray but do not close it
    2. Press Memory
    3. Key in Title 2 Chapter 1 (note: needs to be an invalid Title for the disc concerned)
    4. Press play - it will fail and leave the player "stopped"
    5. Press "T" twice to bring up timer, enter 1 second and press play
    Toshiba SD-110EE
    1. Insert the disc and press "stop" before the map appears
    2. Press "memory" and enter "01" for title and "001" for chapter.
    3. Press play and allow it to stop
    4. Press "T" and enter "1" second.
    5. Press Play
    Bose Lifestyle 35/28 To initialise media centre (also makes it region "0"). You only need do (using the remote control) this once.
    1. Seek Forward Button (right arrow)
    2. Tune Up Button (up arrow)
    3. Shuffle Button
    4. Stop Button
    5. Mute Button
    6. Then use this sequence to enter specific regions disks to overcome RCE:
    7. Open the disk tray first to ensure it works
    8. Stop Button
    9. Shuffle Button .
    10. Region number of the DVD discs sold in that region (i.e. for region 4, press the number 4 button) .
    11. Enter
    Bose 321 DVD system codes To initialise media centre (also makes it region "0"). You only need do this once.
    1. .Number 9 Button
    2. Number 4 Button
    3. Shuffle Button
    4. Stop Button
    5. Mute Button
    6. Then use this sequence to enter specific regions disks to overcome RCE:
    7. Open the disk tray first to ensure it works
    8. Stop Button
    9. Shuffle Button .
    10. Region number of the DVD discs sold in that region (i.e. for region 4, press the number 4 button) .
    11. Enter

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